The highlights of this day: A KB raid on the shipping anchored at Tjilatjap. It was left in port in a calculated risk to bring out the 3 large US base forces operating on Java. Now remnants will have to fly out. The Allies fought back today mainly under the sea. Cuttlefish devastated an xAKL near Truk. The rest of the action was in the Java Sea, where Searaven hit xAK Asakasan Maru with a - gasp! - working Mk14 torpedo for heavy fires and heavy damage, KXV set xAK Lisbon Maru on fire with a torpedo, and S-40 shattered xAK Kuritake Maru with 4 x torpedoes! All of those ships were either empty or carried supplies, as no casualties were noted. Allied air attacks against the Imperial armada were unsuccessful. The troops ashore at Kalidjati, too weak to handle the entire job, hint of a further landing elsewhere on Java.

The Australian 16th and 19th Inf Bdes and the 7th Hussars Tank Rgt will unload at Rangoon beginning tonight and lasting about two days. The BFF Bde is at Toungoo, now up to 10 AV with 98 disabled Burma Rifle Squads to go and a few Vickers squads needed as replacements (they're in short supply throughout the map). The 18th British Div (itself recovering in the field) has been joined by the 63rd Indian Bde and the 17th Australian Bde. The 2nd Royal Tank Rgt is fast moving on the road through Pegu and will join them in about three days. The day following their arrival, the force will attack the Thai units and, with greater numbers and experience than before as well as the aid of tanks, deal a set back to the Empire's plans in the area.

Here is a view of Java showing the Empire's armada and the Allied flight into the vast Indian Ocean.

In the DEI several Imperial SCTFs took out many small combatants around Batavia and elsewhere on the Java Sea side of Java. CL Tama was seen by locals to hit a mine at Batavia - let's hope that's accurate. Allied subs were active again in the Java Sea:

Allied air forces were on the attack too. Several times the KB's CAP was penetrated, although the bombers doing so were badly mauled, further attrited by flak, and missed on their attack runs. SCTFs were attacked without connecting, as with the troop ships. Allied air losses on the day were severe. Imperial convoys are standing off Semarang but have yet to begin landing.

Force Fiji, sailing from Wellington with 2 x CL and 1 x DD, and Force Tasman, sailing from Sydney with 2 x CA, 1 x CL, and 1 x DD are both moving toward position to bombard Noumea. DD Stuart, the escort for Force Tasman, executed an ASW attack against I-17 near Newcastle and evaded 6 torpedoes. Her protectees were too far away to be spotted. Hopefully her presence is too little to betray the mission.

Alert! Alert! The IJN is making use of an advanced ASW platform - the submarine! Luckily both such attacks this day failed. But then again, they are new at this so we shall have to be careful. Major invasion activity at Semarang. Several convoys unloading all night and day. Air attacks hit at least a couple of xAKs but no ground casualties were noted. Shore guns performed better in that department. BB Hyuga was hit with a 300kg SAP bomb but refused to display damage.

Imperial surface forces are working to clear out the last few Allied small surface combatants in the Java Sea, and their battleships are also now in the Indian Ocean 40nm SW Buitenzorg. BBs Fuso (1 x 300kg SAP), Ise (3 x 250kg SAP) got treatment similar to that given Hyuga. A raid of Nells arrived over Oosthaven sans escort and lost about 4 (2 x air to air and 2 x ops). The heavy Val raid against Tjilatjap by KB was well escorted and damaged the airfield but it remains open for offensive operations, albeit just barely. Here is a look at the area around Java.

Two xAKL were sunk by an I-boat near Rangoon so the free ride there is over. Those IJN battleships - and cruisers both heavy and light - bombarded Tjilatjap and while damage was modest, it was enough to close the airfield to offensive operations. The last of the B-17s got off of Java, from Leomjadjang. They were sent there from Tjilatjap when it became clear that base was low on air support and in the Empire's cross hairs. The Allies' fliers had a tough time again in the Java Sea attacking the Imperial invaders, but they drove some attacks home. These all appear to be 300kg SAP hits.

Five Imperial infantry regiments took Semarang. Force Tasman and Force Fiji are each 320nm away from Noumea although in different directions. They are both ordered to bombard tonight. Here is a look at Java.

Hi witpqs! Started reading your AAR today - really enjoying what you are accomplishing with bold resistance in DEI and Burma. Looks like DAW is reaching down SOPAC to scoop a path toward SE Australia. I know the garrison is really weak initially so a direct landing near Sydney might just upset the whole apple cart! Any concerns?? [BTW I have not looked at DAW's AAR if he has one- just speculation on my part].

Re: that torp in Hyuga - ever try to chase down a damaged ship afterward with the sub that did the initial dirty deed? Given that Hyuga only has about 23 kts full speed undamaged and will likely make for the nearest large port with a shipyard over 30K, a chase might pay off. I have had some luck about once in 8 tries in this situation.

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I have not yet begun to fight! OTOH I have not yet begun to flee. Hmmmmm - choices, choices -always with the choices.

On Hyuga, the Java Sea has enough Allied subs racing around that it's pushing up the sea level! So, in this case I don't have to worry about trying to plot an intercept. But just FYI, in the past I have seen subs all on their own chase a convoy or damaged ship for two or even three days. I just use React=1 (the max for subs) and a good Patrol zone and let them do their thing. One other bit that other people recommended and I am finding to be very true is to replace any sub commander with a low Aggressiveness rating. What I've been doing is checking whenever I send out a sub, any commander with an Aggressiveness rating of less than 50 gets sacked and replaced.

I'm not really sure that he will try to go farther in the South Pacific. The "D" in DAW stands for "Devious", and I just got a SigInt hit about a unit preparing to attack Trivandrum, near the tip of India. This could be misinformation (he's famous for prepping a rear area unit for Nome, for example). On the other hand, he might have only done it since he has identified certain units in Burma. The British 18th Division and one of the Australian brigades have been spotted by his guys, so he might figure on visiting India on the theory that I have defended it less stoutly than I might have. He would be right about that.

Australia is in decent shape defensively. I don't recall the number of AV present, but Sydney and Melbourne are held quite firmly. Any place can be conquered of course but DAW's troops would be in the meat grinder for sure. I have been very careful about managing squad and tank upgrades, so even though there is still plenty of militia there is also plenty of much stronger infantry. Modern tanks are the rule in the armored units. The bottom line is that it would have to be a serious invasion to have any chance of succeeding. A snap invasion would get crushed. On the other hand up around the forward areas a smaller invasion could succeed and certainly capture various bases. That's the price of defending strongly in the most vital areas right now, there just aren't enough troops to keep the Imperial forces out everywhere!

Devious Admiral Wa does indeed have an AAR. Obviously we want to maintain opsec between the two, so it's your call if you read both and post little or read and post freely in one. Have you noticed that my AAR is now in living color?

I did notice the color differntiation in the headings at the start of each day summary - very nice. I also appreciate the efforts you put into posting maps and summary reports to help the reader follow the situation - there are just too many islands and strange place names around to picture it from descriptions alone.

Someday I gotta learn how you guys do the map captures - I have tried doing it with Prt Scr to capture the screenshot but then it takes too much editing to cut out the parts you don't want. I tried to download and set up WITP Tracker but when I run the BAT file it tells me it will not run on a 64 bit AMD processor. I am running an Intel I7 rather than AMD but I believe it is also 64 bit. Also, all the documentation talks about earlier Windows versions and I am using Windows 7. Someday when I get more ambitious to tackle the technical stuff I will try to find a work-around... not having Tracker is one of the things that keeps me from trying a PBEM game.

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I have not yet begun to fight! OTOH I have not yet begun to flee. Hmmmmm - choices, choices -always with the choices.

Greenshot is free and open source. By default it will configure to be activated by the "Print Screen" key. I have mine configured to save .jpg files and always ask me where to put them/what to name them (it remembers that last folder where you saved one). It has a bunch of other options but those are the only ones that I use.

There are others available for free, but a couple of cautions. Some contain adware, for example there is someone out there who takes Greenshot and added advertisements to it ! Then there are the various free software that have viruses or trojans to hack your system. Last there are some free versions of commercial products, they give you a basic product for free and hope you will like it/use it enough to pay for an upgrade. Those are fine but the one I tried only captured at partial resolution - something like 80% quality - unless you upgraded to the paid version. Greenshot does full resolution of whatever is on the screen, it's quick and easy to use. It just works.

The other is Paint.net (find it at http://www.getpaint.net/ ), which is a Windows only program that is free but not open source (the author does not release the code). This is a very easy to use program to put annotations on a screen capture. A tip is to use different layers for your annotations, then merge them all "down" to the first layer when you are done (jpg files can only have one layer so you won't be able to post it on the forum otherwise). Also be warned that bad people out there also hand out virus-ridden copies of Paint.net, and even charge for it. So like Greenshot make sure you get it from the right place.

Tracker will help with AI games too. Go to the Tracker thread and the Tracker web site (go there first actually), they have instructions for getting Tracker working on 64-bit. I haven't done it because mine is 32-bit but many have and I understand it is not too difficult. The basic deal is that, in addition to 64-bit Java (which your system might use for other things), you download and install 32-bit Java. Then you make a small edit to the .bat that runs Tracker so it knows enough to specifically ask for 32-bit Java. That's it in a nutshell. If there are errors specific to your system the guys are almost always able to help.

This game is great as an AI game. If you try PBM you'll find that has a different dimension as human on human try to outguess and out-plan each other because humans are more flexible and creative than the AI can be.

Many thanx for both "how to" posts. Will get the Greenshot and Paint right away.

I have been to the Tracker website and tried to decipher the tech talk vs my own system. I stopped at the point where it said to download the 32 bit Java because my system automatically downloads from the Java website and I didn't want to replace it with a 32 bit version and probably cause problems with other programs using Java 64 bit, especially Internet Explorer. I presume you cannot have two java.exe files, one 64 bit and one 32 bit on the same system???

If I get ambitious for some mind-bending config stuff I might take the question to the tech forum [which I have already searched for "Tracker AND 64 bit processor" without success].

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I have not yet begun to fight! OTOH I have not yet begun to flee. Hmmmmm - choices, choices -always with the choices.

A good day for Allied subs, and a decent day for Allied air in the DEI. Considering the depleted state of Allied air there, it was a good day. First off there was lots of sub combat, both attacks and ASW. Make that 16 combats between Allied subs and IJN surface vessels in the Java Sea. At first the Allies were coming up dry but persistence paid off. I'm showing this first successful attack because of all the juicy IJN amphibious targets displayed.

Each of the four sub's victims is listed as sunk. And the proud recipient of 300kg SAP love was:

quote:

xAK Hokuhi Maru, Bomb hits 2, on fire

For their part the IJN subs only had a look at a tanker convoy heading into Sydney - safely! Upward of 70,000 tons fuel arrive in Australia. You can bet that Imperial shark will still be on duty awaiting the arrival of the damaged CA Australia. The Allied army near Toungoo will rest one more day before attacking again.

A 'mere' four combats involving Allied subs today, and no torpedoes exploded on target. A 300kg SAP message was delivered to the deck of Kongo, but might have had little impact on the battleship. There is a gaggle of Imperial ships in at least 3 TFs 40nm E Oosthaven. One surface combat, a convoy, and an unknown that could even be KB due to the presence of Zeros. Java itself is already split into 3 pieces, with Tjilatjap alone in the middle of the island. Target Merak, Oosthaven, or someplace beyond? CA Australia made Sydney and is entering dry dock with an estimate of 48 days to repair. CL Danae is about 120nm NE Port Hedland heading for Perth. An ASW TF at Dutch Harbor was spotted by an Imperial float plane today.

Too late now, but Melbourne might have been a better place to drydock CA Austrailia. Sydney has the only drydock in Western Pacific that can take your carriers and using up 10,000 tons worth of capacity may block that. I think Melbourne dd is big enough for a CA but not a CV.

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I have not yet begun to fight! OTOH I have not yet begun to flee. Hmmmmm - choices, choices -always with the choices.

IIRC you are right - 10,000 I think so most or all CAs will fit. But I think the 48 days window will be short enough to avoid a traffic jam.

I should have considered that a guy with nearly 10K posts knows what he is doing .... Wonder if Australia used Sheila the Riveter to free up men for long hikes?? Might be another reason to put the ship at Sydney!

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I have not yet begun to fight! OTOH I have not yet begun to flee. Hmmmmm - choices, choices -always with the choices.

Paratroopers at Praboemoelih! The target was Oosthaven, and it will be seized with the barest of fights tomorrow (if the Empire attacks). Our subs in the Java Sea failed to score, but Shark near Lihir put several non-working Mk14 torpedoes against the hull of xAK Meisan Maru and left her afire after a gun battle. An I-boat took down another xAKL near Rangoon. But most of the action was on land. Near Ichang, Imperial troops attacked a well entrenched Chinese force, and (in effect) disabled a division.

I am amazed at how this combat finished being that close. During the replay both Imperial units went down to 0 AV, yet they finished with an adjusted AV of 82. The troops go at it again tomorrow.

Over Liuchow the Empire's Airedales tried to sweep away the AVG and got the treatment themselves. All the Oscar losses were there, 18 to 7. The two AVG squadrons in China are getting pretty good, and one will upgrade to P-40Es tomorrow or the day after.

The Empire is more serious about stopping supply running into Rangoon. An xAKL was attacked about 6 six by two different I-boats and finally slipped beneath the waves, its service finished. Air attacks in the Java Sea were some thwarted by Imperial CAP, but all the rest simply failed to hit. They did make nice patterns in the water. The good news for the day is that the Thai invaders near Toungoo were finally expelled. DAW must be pleased with their performance, but I take solace in the experience they provided to an inexperienced division and two inexperienced brigades.

The most interesting operations report item of the day is this one: "TF 167 snooped by Japanese Torpedo Bomber at 158,91 near Midway Island" There was a plane seen over Midway by both the base and a TF unloading supplies there, but no enemy contacts otherwise. So was the report mistaken and it was actually a submarine borne float plane? Measures have been taken to boost the search around Midway, but little else would be done at this time to boost the defense of the atoll depending on how much force DAW assigns to the target. Most likely this was a mistaken sighting.

In the Strait of Malacca there was a rather robust ASW on Truant (she's OK). One TF is scouted with APDs and the other with DDs. There's a constant watch on for KB or other major forces transiting the Strait to interdict the flow of supplies and ground units by sea to Burma. So, this contact is being watched with extra interest.

And while net air losses were only slightly in the Allies favor there were 2 raids without escort over Java where 10 Betties were taken down. Meanwhile on the big continent, our boys at Wenchow are taking a bite out of the invaders.

Zero sweeps over Java devastated the Dutch fighter corps on the defense, but Dutch bombers went on the offense with USA fighters and delivered 3 x 300kg SAPs to AMC Awata Maru leaving her afire. Off Exmouth an xAP in company of the stricken CL Danae was destroyed by I-19 in spite of vigorous escort opposition. Danae was not seen - will she escape? USN SS Gar made the first attack on Imperial shipping in its home waters, sustaining 1 hit while hitting xAKL Taisoku Maru with 6 x shells. An Imperial sub is sighted near Midway, which confirms the erroneous nature of the 'torpedo bomber' sighting; it was actually a sub-launched float plane.

I-boats have massed off the coast of Burma to interdict supplies and troops, taking two of our supply xAKLs today. There are enough escorts in the area to battle it out with them, except... Search in AE is wonderfully porous, but in this case careful search has paid off:

HMS Trusty, badly roughed up a few days ago, is on her way back to port for repairs. HMS Truant was summarily sunk by escorts of the KB as it reversed course back through the Malacca Strait. Truant is the first Allied sub lost.

KB is still at Singapore. SigInt has alerted on a second target in the tip of India that Imperial forces are preparing for. The Dutch subs are being re-based at Colombo and most or all should be there before any invasion. Two are being repaired in Australia.

Over Burma the AVG and British, et al fighters gave the Imperial aerial raiders a bloody nose in the skies above the 7th Hussars Regiment near Moulmein. A handful Zeros and Oscars were too few to protect 22 Anns from the defenders. 7 x Anns, 3 x Zeros, and 2 x Oscars were taken down for no losses on our side.

In a surprise move, the Imperial Guards Division has been landed at 49,83 to stifle the planned clam-diggers uprising. Clearly a cover story, the Empire released a statement that Devious Admiral Wa ordered the exercise as practice for the upcoming secret invasion of India.

There were Imperial amphibious operations at: Lunga There were Allied amphibious operations at:

We have lost sight of the KB. Most likely they are covering the suppression of the clam-diggers rebellion.

It looks like we've won the race to hold the door behind Kukong open as the Imperial unit that was making cross country to cut the road has changed course. There are 6 enemy units in Kukong and another 7 on the way. There are 10 enemy units to the east of Changsha and another 6 on the way. Our units there are holding under the stacking limits to conserve supply and so might be overwhelmed. But if they can hold for one or two turns the supply burn for DAW's forces ought to be tremendous. Imperial troops have appeared behind Nanning, after presumably traveling along the road from Indochina.

Looks like he is trying to trap you between two forces at Nanning. The river and the wooded terrain help you on defence and you have a clear path back to Liuchow if you have to retreat, but Liuchow is in clear terrain. Unless you have good forts or your forces are much larger than his you may have to set up your defence at Kweilin. [I doubt that your Chinese troops have been able to gain enough experience yet to resist IJA superiority in equipment, mobility and leaders.]

Certainly DAW could have other forces up the road that are tasked with cutting the road/rail net down to Liuchow and the road net toward Burma. Chinese units have been dispatched to deal with that possibility.

Obviously the troop count is wrong, so hopefully they are way over the stacking limit of 55,000 in that hex. Our guys are at fortification levels 2 and 3 (2 of each for the 4 units) and aerial bombing will be ordered to assist them. Changsha itself has reached fortification level 6.

Naval search has spotted the KB moving back through the Strait of Malacca toward the Andaman Sea. The clam-diggers rebellion is in full retreat. With the arrival of Imperial forces at Soerabaja all USN subs have been re-based to Perth with having adequate fuel remaining on patrol. Meanwhile all RNN subs were already re-based to Colombo, with a few remaining on patrol while their fuel held out and the rest sailing for their new water. Those remaining few have been ordered back to Colombo to oppose the IJN's foray.